Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to a fuel filter heating device. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a fuel filter heating device designed to increase the temperature of fuel introduced into a diesel fuel filter when the temperature of the fuel is low, as in the winter season.
Description of Related Art
Engines used in vehicles may be broadly classified into gasoline engines and diesel engines.
The gasoline engine, which is an internal combustion engine designed to run on gasoline, generates power by injecting air and gasoline into a cylinder and burning the compressed gasoline mixture with ignition initiated by an electric spark.
In contrast, a diesel engine, which is an internal combustion engine designed to run on diesel fuel, generates power by drawing air into a cylinder by means of a piston, compressing the air under high pressure, and burning fuel by injecting the fuel into the compressed air under high pressure and high temperature through auto-ignition.
The diesel engine has advantages over the gasoline engine in that fuel consumption is decreased by virtue of better heat efficiency, the cost of operation is decreased because the fuel is inexpensive, and the fuel is widely used, thereby providing flexibility in use of alternative fuel.
In the diesel engine, since diesel fuel contains a large amount of extraneous substances and moisture, a filtering procedure of eliminating impurities such as extraneous substances and moisture from the fuel is required prior to supplying the fuel to an engine. For the purpose of filtering, a fuel filter is used.
The fuel filter is provided with a PTC heater, which serves to heat diesel fuel, thereby increasing the temperature of the fuel when the temperature of the fuel is low.
However, since a conventional PTC heater, which is mostly used during the winter season, consumes a large amount of battery power, it has an adverse influence in that it discharges a battery and reduces the fuel efficiency of the vehicle. Furthermore, since a bimetal switch, which is a kind of ON/OFF switch that is sensitive to temperature, is repeatedly turned on and off depending on the temperature of the fuel, the frequent on/off operation of the bimetal switch has an adverse influence on its durability.
The information disclosed in this Background of the Invention section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.